Bonsoir!

So its only been a month since they have received my medical packet but it feels like an eternity!To give you some visual representation of what I was given, I took a quick screen shot of my toolkit:




That said my nomination is for June 2012 which means that they probably wont even look at my packet until mid February/ early March.

I have to say that the waiting is by far the hardest part of this process so far. Up till now I have always had a next step to work on actively but now all I can do is check my e-mail every day looking for that message saying "there has been a change to your toolkit".

However I am currently taking a French course to prepare me (at least slightly) and make me a bit more competitive for invitation and placement pending medical clearance (I always have to say 'pending'! Think of it like knocking on wood. I'm not too superstitious but I'll take anything to help me feel better at this point).
As a native English speaker my biggest issue with French so far is the number system. 1-69 is all fine and good but our 70 is there 60 +10. They don't have a word for 'seventy'!!! (or ninety for that matter). That's going to take a bit of getting used to.
Also as a Biology major I was a bit disappointed to find out that I will have to learn all new terms for anatomical features. You would think that as we are both Latin derived languages there would be some major similarities, but not so much. Oh well.

I want to write more, but there's not too much more to say. So till I get a response from Peace Corps OMS. . .

-Au revoir

Now I play the waiting game . . .

Last time I covered my concerns about Varicella. Now that I have all of that resolved and my medical packet sent out, I have nothing to do but wait for the results*. 

To further clarify, I took a booster shot and retook my titer to prove immunity to chicken pox (this is all in my timeline). At this point my largest concern is my low BMI (just above 17). My thyroid results came back normal and my fasting glucose levels were normal as well, but the fact that I am underweight according to them is worrisome. This low BMI is normal for everyone in my family, I'm not bulimic or anorexic, I just have a fast metabolism and have no problem maintaining my body weight. This may seem like a blessing, but really (as especially in cases like this) it is a curse. When you can't gain or loose weight to save your life, situations like this tend to come along and put a damper on things.

I know you're not supposed to put all your eggs in one basket, but at this point the Peace Corps is my one and only true goal for the immediate future. I have given this basket to the fine doctors and nurses at Peace Corps medical review, and I only hope that my few slight shortcomings do not effect their view of my overall health. Once (fingers crossed) I am medically and dentally cleared I can move on to legal clearance and finally placement for an invitation to service. If everything goes smoothly this could all occur within the next 4 months and I could leave within the next 6, but only time will tell.

Finally, I sent my packet via certified mail and it showed that it arrived today 1/3/12 at 12:38pm. That said my Peace Corps login page does not yet reflect this. Hopefully they will soon.

*I've never taken the phrase 'pacing a hole in the carpet' so seriously before.